Verizon Debuts Managed Wireless ATM Solution

First it came to consumers. Now it is coming to ATMs. Wireless connectivity for ATMs, says Verizon Enterprise Solutions, clearly is the future and the company accordingly has announced the debut of a managed wireless solution for ATM owners.

Included is a fleet of services, said Raj Dhinsa, managing principal, Financial Services, with Verizon Enterprise Solutions, who said Verizon would be providing wireless transport, wireless router, installation and maintenance.

Not on the list is the ATM itself. “We are agnostic about the ATM, we will work with any manufacturer,” said Dhinsa in an interview.

He indicated that the primary market – which he said is upwards of 200,000 ATMs – consists of ATMs that are not inside branches.

He pointed to ATMs in malls and retail stores as prime candidates and, he indicated, Verizon is targeting the ATM solution both to newly purchased ATMs but also as a retrofit to existing units.

“Historically, ATMs have been difficult to deploy to specific or temporary locations and have

offered banks limited revenue-generating potential,” said Scott Eason, a global vice president of at Verizon Enterprise Solutions, in a press statement. “With Managed Wireless ATMs, we’ve created a winning formula that allows financial institutions to create value and control the total cost of ownership for ATMs, while providing their customers convenience and flexibility.”

As for costs, Dhinsa said “the cost of wireless transport generally will be lower than wired.”

Dhinsa said that in building out the wireless solution, security had been a significant concern and Verizon, he added, is very confident in the security it is building into its offering. “The data is encrypted from the ATM to the financial institution’s data center.”